Larger areas like river basins, grazing lands or livestock routes provide a challenge
because they: 1) may overlay several administrative units; 2) will include new sets of
primary and secondary stakeholders and; 3) will require particular care to
incorporate the political support and concerns of powerful interests. The latter is
particularly true in the urban setting where the concentration of formal government
stakeholders is greatest and the economic stakes tend to be very high.
Stakeholder analysis of regional institutions and their interests will help to focus the
planning strategy on key stakeholders. The early stages of PAPD can provide
evidence to decision-makers (in particular, STEPS analysis) at other levels.
The task is then to quickly transfer the negotiation and discussion process to higher
levels (civil society organisations and regional authorities etc.). The latter stages of
PAPD (public feedback and action plan development) can be adapted to include a
range of key secondary stakeholders in central venues. The challenge to the
facilitator is to organise and manage a series of formal and informal meetings or
workshops that work towards regional agreement. As such, regional level PAPD will
follow a process approach which is less bounded and less predictable than local
planning. This makes documenting PAPD more complex and support should be
provided to help record meetings and arrange follow-up actions.
Working with existing and supportive institutions
Local level and informal institutions
It is important that PAPD facilitators are fully aware of the potential of existing
institutions to support new planning and consensus building. In addition to the
visible formal institutions (local government authorities, line departments etc.) there
are often important but invisible social norms and systems that represent informal
institutions. For poor primary stakeholders these informal institutions are often as
significant to their livelihoods as any formal structures.
These institutions or norms often influence how negotiation may proceed (what is,
or what is not, permissible) and the planning process should acknowledge them if it
is to succeed. For instance, planning can be affected by social norms relating to the
traditional role of women in public or customary relationships between different
ethnic groups. Of particular interest are existing means of dispute resolution
involving respected and influential individuals (Box 3.).
Regional institutions or networks
There are many good reasons to utilise existing supportive institutions rather than to
attempt to build new committees or structures. Established networks may be well
placed to provide support because they: 1) may legitimately represent numerous
villages; 2) may be experienced in securing financial and technical support and; 3)
might be able to reach new supportive institutions and sources of funding during
the lifespan of the project and beyond.
Facilitators must ask: “Are there existing networks and institutions (project-related,
civil society etc.) already involved in regional planning or service delivery that can
support PAPD?”
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